Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport gets many complaints about airport employees demanding money from people getting shipments from abroad, but an airport official has blamed it on fraud committed by outside perpetrators.

Nguyen Huy Duong, deputy director of the Hanoi international airport, said there were complaints about a dozen such cases in October, with most victims being people expecting shipments from family or business partners.

One woman in the capital said her relatives in Afghanistan sent her a shipment and so believed a person who called claiming to be an airport employee and said her shipment would be held up at the airport until she transferred US$3,000 into a local bank account.

Another woman lost $7,500 to a similar trick.

Duong said the fraudsters made the scam convincing by sending photos of the shipment and invoice papers to the victims.

They may have used information leaked by logistics companies, he said.

The airport has sought police assistance, but no suspects have been arrested yet.

Duong said international shipping does not require receivers to pay any money to airport employees.

He said anyone getting such a demand should contact the airport authorities.